Coroner slams SA cops on parolee's rampage

Margaret Scheikowski

A coroner has slammed South Australian police over a failure to keep proper tabs on a violent parolee who shot himself after stabbing a policeman and sexually assaulting an elderly woman.

Shane Andrew Robinson, 32, fatally shot himself during a siege at Yunta, in the state's northeast, on July 9, 2009.

He was in a remote homestead owned by an elderly woman he had taken hostage and sexually assaulted, after a rampage which began the day before.

He had stabbed a policeman, drove off in his car and ran over a pedestrian.

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In his inquest findings released on Thursday, Coroner Mark Johns listed a string of failures by SA police including showing a "profoundly disturbing" lack of interest in a report that Robinson's partner had been attacked and his repeated breaches of parole.

Robinson had served time over an earlier siege in 2002 when he took a 17-year-old boy hostage, threatening him with an axe and holding a knife to his throat.

He also had child sex assault convictions meaning he was on the Australian National Child Offender Register (ANCOR).

The coroner said police and other authorities missed opportunities to intervene in the management of Robinson in a way that might have prevented the events culminating in his death, including the stabbing and sexual assault.

"They included the opportunities for ANCOR officers to have exercised greater diligence in scrutinising Mr Robinson," he said.

Given his sex convictions, he should not have been allowed to live with his partner who had four daughters.

The coroner also criticised the police call centre's handling of a report that Robinson's partner had been attacked, including the failure to ask the identity of the assailant.

"It shows a lack of interest and commitment to the job of policing and keeping South Australians safe," he said.

If he had been identified, further inquiries would have revealed Robinson was "a dangerous man" and action could have been taken that may have prevented the rampage.

His recommendations included specific training of call centre staff on domestic violence disclosures, the appointment of dedicated case managers to high risk offenders and formally advising ANCOR staff of their obligations to the protection of children.